beta

If you rushed to download the Windows 8 Consumer Preview the minute it was available, this story probably isn't for you. If you simply went "meh" when it became available and updated your Windows 7 security definitions, then apparently you're in the vast majority. According to the analytics firm Net Applications, just about .11% of Internet users connected from a Windows 8 device last week, showing flat growth numbers from March. When compared with the same numbers during Windows 7's Beta period in 2009, they're at about the 40% mark.

Mozilla had just released Firefox 12 and it's already getting ready for Firefox 13, which is due in six weeks. The beta version of the next browser update has been made available to developers today and reveals some welcome new changes that include "tabs on demand" and Google's SPDY protocol enabled by default.

This past weekend, Blizzard Entertainment performed a "stress test" on their servers in preparation for their next big release: Diablo III - and users free test has gotten the crowds excited to a whole new degree. This game is 16 years in the making, making this one of the longest periods between a game and its sequel in the history of gaming - and certainly the MMORPG world for certain. To help us prepare even more than this free Beta weekend has already, we've spoken to several wild gamers from across the United States to see what this first weekend held for them and what they're excited about for the release halfway through this month!

As Blizzard Entertainment prepares for the biggest game launch they've had since World of Warcraft, Diablo III has been prepped for a global (nearly) beta test launch for all! This one-time download and weekend-only activation will have you and your loved ones crushing the forces of evil in preparation for the full battle for a full 48 hours starting today, Friday, April 20 at 12:01 p.m. PDT (noon), and going until Monday, April 23 at 10:00 a.m. PDT. Who will be the first to the top of the ladder?

This week we're getting an early preview of the newest version of the mobile version of the Spotify app, complete with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich compatibility. This update to the app has been long-awaited, especially since Spotify's Premium Userbase is the only set of folks able to get the full mobile experience with Android. This update has what Spotify describes as a full "top-to-bottom" redesign, works with much higher resolution graphics than ever before, and has an improved new music discovery engine.

Microsoft hasn't been shy about the radical direction it's taking with the user interface design on Windows 8, but it looks like their latest change may be a big one. PCBeta reports that the latest build of Microsoft's next operating system does away with the ubiquitous "Start" button, which has graced Windows for almost twenty years. The functionality of the Start button remains, but as a limited "hotspot" in the lower-left corner by default, not unlike the Aero Peek feature in Windows 7. Even that functionality is only present in the classic or desktop mode, which drops the shiny new Metro tile interface for a more traditional windowed UI.

Last week we let you in on a few bits of functionality that sat inside the mobile version of the gaming giant Steam - this week the beta period for testing of that app is done and everyone is allowed to join at will. This application may have mobile-based games in the future, but for now acts as a companion application for the browser-based interface for PC and Mac computers. You are able to purchase items for future playing from this mobile application, and community engagement is currently the biggest selling point for Steam fans.

One of the most famous suites of software on earth, Microsoft's Office, has been released in its 15th iteration this morning as a Technical Preview. As JP Hough, CVP of Development for Microsoft's Office Division notes, Office 15 is the codename of the next generation of Microsoft's Office products, and this Technical Preview is the first Phase of release for a limited group of customers under non-disclosure agreements. This release does not currently have any semblance of a price or release date, and this early build will not be released to the public.

Steam is pretty much the universally accepted standard in delivering digitally downloaded games to the PC crowd, and now it is seeking some of that mojo on Android. Valve is testing an official version of Steam on the Google platform, currently accessible only to users invited to the closed beta but hopefully due to make its way to the general public soon.

Apple's iOS has already been tweaked to accommodate quadcore processors, software digging has discovered, with mention of the four-core chipsets found in the latest iOS 5.1 beta. A hidden panel within the beta discloses which processors iOS 5.1 is set up to handle, 9 to 5 Mac reports, with a reference to "/cores/core.3" indicating two more than we've seen so far in a commercially-launched iPhone, iPod or iPad. The discovery follows speculation resurfacing earlier today that Apple intends to launch not one but two new iPad models this year, with a significantly upgraded iPad 4 due in October.